Page 26 of Tessa

“What’s first on the list?”

“Ummmm… magnets?”

Dax shook his head because he knew, as did Tessa, that magnets were actually at the bottom of the list. But they were the one thing that had been Tessa’s idea, so starting with them was a strategic move designed to put her at ease. It seemed to work.

“To the office section!” she cried, jabbing her hand in the air as she steered the cart to a far corner of the store.

There wasn’t a huge selection of magnets but she found a pack of ones shaped like flowers and threw them in the cart.

“Where next?”

“Health and Beauty,” Beau directed. “We need pull-ups, wipes, a Little girl toothbrush and toothpaste, feminine products, shampoo and conditioner, a hairbrush, and some bubble bath.”

Dax could see Tessa getting nervous as she listened to the long list, but she turned the cart in the right direction and headed off on a mission.

“These are the ones Baze gets,” she said, throwing a box of pull-ups and a three-pack of wipes into the cart.

“Good choice, then,” Beau agreed, hanging back and letting her make the selections. Dax had to give him credit. He seemed to know how important it was to let Tessa take the lead on this. A package of tampons went into the cart, followed by a popular, mid-priced shampoo and conditioner set. She took her time picking out a bubble bath, smelling several options before picking one that smelled like honey and berries, according to the label. “Pick two,” Beau advised, when she tossed it into the cart. “We’ll probably go through it pretty fast. Little girls love bubble baths.”

She tossed him a look over her shoulder and for a second Dax thought he was going to have to mediate between the two of them, but she grabbed a bright pink bottle of a popular kid’s brand for her second choice and tossed it into the cart before turning into the next aisle.

Toothbrushes. She took as much care selecting the perfect toothbrush as she had choosing the right bubble bath, looking at several options before settling on a battery- operated Care Bear toothbrush and a mild mint toothpaste that had been Dax’s favorite as a child.

“Good choices, little one,” he praised.

“Thanks. What’s next?”

“Well, before we leave this section, is there anything I’m forgetting?”

Scrunching her nose, Tessa studied the contents of the cart. “Um… maybe deodorant? And like, some body spray? And a razor?” Tessa listed off the items with a question in her voice as if she was afraid that asking them to cover her basic needs was somehow too much.

“Those are all important. See, it’s a good thing you came with! Daddy Beau would have forgotten a lot of stuff!”

Tessa beamed.

Beau nodded and took a step toward her. He lowered his voice, and leaned close to whisper to Tessa but Dax heard every word.

“Make sure you pick a good razor, like maybe an electric one, so Daddy can use it to shave your sweet little pussy bare.”

Tessa’s eyes got big and her cheeks turned red. But she swallowed and nodded, turning toward the wall of razors, then back to Beau. “Maybe… maybe you could pick one out? I don’t really know what kind to get.” She whispered the admission as if it were somehow shameful and Dax held his breath waiting for Beau’s response, though he needn’t have worried. Beau handled it perfectly.

“I would love to pick it out, and I’ll get some nice shaving cream too. You don’t worry about that, just go on and pick your body spray and deodorant while I handle this. Oh, and take Daddy Dax with you. He likes picking out good-smelling things.”

They left the Health and Beauty section ten minutes later with a specifically-for-women electric razor and shaving cream, a two-pack of Dove deodorant, and a large bottle of raspberry body spray.

Beau had control of the cart now and steered them to the home section where he picked out several plastic sippy cups in all colors of the rainbow, two yellow plastic bowls with matching plates, a ten-pack of plastic utensils designed for older children, and a plastic dinner set adorned with the same Care Bears that were on Tessa’s new toothbrush.

Tessa let Beau take charge, but she chewed the inside of her cheek and frowned every time Beau added something to the cart.

“I think that’s probably everything now, isn’t it, Daddies?”

Dax looked at Beau with a question in his eyes and Beau shook his head. “Almost, but not quite.”

“What else do we need?” Tessa asked.

Beau made a show of consulting his list. “We need a snuggly blanket, a couple of board games, and a few bedtime stories. And then I think that’s it.”

Tessa really looked like she wanted to protest, but to her credit, she didn’t. “I think blankets are over here.”